Irvine quarterback Ryan Goodman picked a perfect time to have his best game of the season Friday night.

Goodman threw three touchdown passes and compiled 175 yards through the air to lead Irvine to a 29-21 Pacific Coast League victory over University at Irvine Stadium.

It marked the fourth straight win by Irvine over Uni. Irvine leads the series 25-10.

"It was kind of his coming out party," Irvine coach Erik Terry said of Goodman. "He's had his struggles, but tonight he was fantastic and he had a great supporting cast. He had all day to throw most of the time so the line was doing great."

"His receivers helped him out, Christian McCrossan had another fantastic performance and it was great to see Adam Searl get that touchdown (in the end) because he's one of the hardest workers we have. We plugged away and plugged away."

Irvine (4-3, 1-1) overcame a 15-7 halftime deficit behind Goodman's passing and a solid defensive effort which limited University to six points in the second half.

"Our theme this week was 'make it happen' and we needed guys to come out and make plays, and that's what happened tonight," Goodman said.

McCrossan was the top receiver, scoring two touchdowns and hauling in eight catches for 73 yards. Irvine's leading rusher was Gary Renteria, who had 57 yards on 17 carries.

Chase Alibrando led University, rushing for 106 yards on 21 carries and one touchdown. University (2-4-1, 0-2) got a strong performance from Keyvan Aminzadeh who rushed for 104 yards.

He hauled in a 6-yard touchdown pass and scored on a 3-yard TD run in the first half. The touchdown was set up by a 76-yard punt return by Jassiem Jenkins which gave the Trojans the ball on the Irvine 17-yard line.

Irvine came charging back in the second half. Goodman connected with McCrossan on a 5-yard touchdown pass with 7:26 left in the third quarter, and he ran in for the 2-point conversion to tie the score, 15-15.

University moved ahead, 21-15, on a 10-yard touchdown run by Alibrando with 4:59 left in the third quarter. The Trojans missed the extra point.

Irvine regained the lead, 22-21, on Goodman's 10-yard TD pass to McCrossan with 10:31 left in the game.

The Vaqueros then took a 29-21 lead on Goodman's 16-yard TD pass to Searl with 4:41 left to seal the victory.

University was victimized by key penalties and two short punts in the second half which gave Irvine excellent field position.

"That field position battle was definitely in our favor in the second half," Terry said.

A Trojan penalty prolonged a drive for Irvine, which capitalized on the mistake for a score.

"A crucial play was when they had a personal foul and it was clearly a personal foul on their part and our guy talked back and said something and then we get a personal foul," said University Coach Mark Cunningham. "That's a drive that they went in and scored on and that would have given them something like second and thirty.

"When you cannot control yourself in those kinds of situations you end up losing a game. We had some key penalties on offense that stopped us. It was a hard fought game and I can't fault how hard they played but we can't put ourselves in positions like that and expect to come out on top, regardless of what the score was at the half."

Jenkins rushed for 59 yards on 10 carries in the first half, but did not play in the second half.

"He kind of tweaked his knee a little bit and we just didn't want to take any chances," Cunningham said.

Irvine's Adam Searl celebrates his fourth quarter touchdown with teammates during Friday's game. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
University's Connor Martin runs in a two-point conversion following the Trojans first touchdown Friday night. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Irvine's Mikey Filia runs against University Friday night. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
University's Chase Alibrando scores in the third quarter against Irvine on Friday. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Irvine's Gary Renteria runs against University during their game Friday. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Irvine quarterback Ryan Goodman is sacked by University's Amir Nabard during their game Friday. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
University's Jessiem Jenkins runs agaisnt Irvine during their game Friday. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Irvine's Camron Taborda is tackled after a pass reception against University Friday. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
University's Jessiem Jenkins is tackled by Irvine players during their game Friday. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
University's Keyvan Bardia Aminzadeh celebrates scoring the Trojans second touchdown against Irvine Friday. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Irvine's Gary Renteria runs against University during their game Friday. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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